Essentials: children and E-mail. Avoid attracting unwanted e-mail. Educate children to think of their e-mail address as a private phone number. They should not provide it to an unknown person, nor reply to an e-mail of unknown origin, without your prior consent.

Essentials: children and usenet.  Like World Wide Web pages, Usenets newsgroups are a slice of adult life -  good, bad and sometimes plain distasteful.  As such, Usenet should be considered an adult forum - and out of bounds to unsupervised.

Essentials: children and on line gaming. There are many interactive games available for home computers.  They range from the escapist worlds of role play, to classic board games, to futuristic arcade action 'shoot-em ups'.  As a parent your should be aware what these games entail, and approve of the gameplay content for your children.

Like watching TV, playing games online can become compelling - for adults and children alike. Be aware of the time spent on-line, and enforce strict control. Enjoy gaming with your children, and you'll keep a healthy perspective.

A child's imagination can run wild in fantasy games and its sometimes easy to become a little over obsessed.

Enjoy the internet as a family. Put the computer in a family room and enjoy exploring the Internet with your children.

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